Die Together
by shrimpette
Summary: One shot, set after chapter 698. Somewhat SNS, could be seen either as friendship or romance.


Naruto calmly listened to Sakura's rant, ignoring her words, and focusing on her forehead instead. It was wrinkled from anger but her eyebrows were raised, so she couldn't had been really angry, the emotion had to be something different. He tried to remember what he had learned in the Academy about facial expressions but nothing came to his mind. Sasuke, who was standing behind Sakura, rolled his eyes at what was the woman saying. Naruto smiled to him - the war was finally over, and Sasuke was back. He was able to fulfill the goal he considered the most important for the last few years.

The woman stopped shouting, and Naruto wondered why did she look so sad and depressed. Her pink lips quivered, and even Sasuke seemed concerned about her. He didn't say anything though - they've stopped talking after his apology, the woman never answered to it, and Naruto wasn't sure if he should try to mediate between them. Sasuke claimed that she just needed some time, and he decided to trust him - after all, Uchiha had hurt Sakura in more than just one way, and it was just three weeks since the war had ended.

Naruto was still in the hospital, a part of his right arm missing. He wasn't able to get used to it, he constantly tried to grab things with it; sometimes he thought that someone else was touching it. He appreciated the fact that his friends still made the effort to visit him - after all, they had to be busy with dealing with the after-war problems. The dead had to be buried, the injured had to be healed… Naruto considered himself lucky, his condition was rather stable, and if it wasn't for Sakura and Tsunade, he would walk out of the hospital a long time ago. He realized that the number of guests dropped dramatically after the first two weeks when he couldn't find a moment for himself. They all wanted to thank him for saving the world, and asked him how was he feeling. He always replied with "great", however he wasn't feeling like this. His phantom limb was hurting a lot - only Sasuke and Tsunade knew about this. Sasuke never left his side. He came out of war almost unscratched - minus the missing arm, of course; his wounds were healed almost instantly, practically overnight. Naruto wondered why was it so. Perhaps it had something to do with Orochimaru but he didn't ask about it yet; he generally avoided the topic of what exactly was Sasuke doing over the last few years. Naruto was the one, who couldn't shut up.

He remembered going to a funeral but Tsunade made him take so many numbing pills that he was practically unconscious throughout it. Everyone was dressed in black, and there were _so_ many graves. Naruto would probably cry if it wasn't for the drugs. He was brought there on a wheelchair, still unable to stand on his own. Sakura was pushing it, and Sasuke walked by his side. Their phantom limbs were holding hands - or that was what Naruto believed to be happening.

Sakura finally left the hospital room, slamming the doors behind her. Naruto cringed at that, his hearing working properly again. Sasuke smirked, and approached the bed, sitting on a chair next to him.

"She's still really loud," the brunette murmured softly.

"When will you start talking again?" Naruto inquired, sitting up, and reaching for the plate that was standing on the nightstand next to him. He awkwardly grabbed chopsticks, and tried to catch a piece of carrot with them. Sasuke looked at him apologetically.

"I can't help you with this," he said, raising what was left of his left arm. "It's possible that you're the only person that is able to forgive me," he replied to the question.

"Everyone's just ignoring you," the blonde complained, deciding to resort to some barbaric tactics, and impaling the vegetable with one chopstick. The carrot slid off of it, and landed on a plate almost inaudibly.

"If this is how they want to cope with this…" Sasuke muttered. "Just use your fingers, this isn't a fancy restaurant," he suggested. "At least I won't be facing any trial."

"_Konoha_ should be put on a trial for what they did to you," Naruto uttered. "I wonder if I'll ever learn how to live without it," he pondered, thinking about his right arm. Obviously, his best friend already knew it. Sometimes he caught him responding to things he was sure he never actually voiced. Apparently they didn't have to beat each other up to understand one another anymore.

"I've already lost to you, Naruto," Sasuke said silently, and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"And I've told you that it didn't count," Uzumaki retorted. Sometimes his friend could be really stubborn.

"You've also said that you'll die with me," Sasuke muttered, and straightened his back. He seemed tired. Naruto wasn't shocked, the brunette was _always_ with him, and it had to be exhausting - he had trouble sleeping, and spent most of the nights lying next to his friend, reminiscing simpler times. He wasn't quite ready to face what was going on around him, and Uchiha didn't push him.

"What of it?"

"You didn't."


End file.
